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38% of remote workers work from bed

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Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#91

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

Getting asynchronous chores done like laundry, dishwashing, and cooking/baking are the best part of working from home.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#92

> but a whopping 50% still say the pain and discomfort of working from home is enough to send them back to the office. I want a breakdown of remote work preference by dollar amount spent on office chair. I think this would be revealing.

I use a $3999 Hale Aircomfort Zero Gravity Recliner with Air Massage [1]. I have three 27" monitors that are attached to a motorized sit/stand desk, purely so I can adjust their height as I adjust my depth of recline. This is an investment in my health that my employer doesn't seem to want to even discuss. Recent survey asked "Are you missing equipment that is only available at the office?" No, it's the other way aro…

Nowhere near as nice a setup, but same answer to the survey question.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#93
post #40

For the past 2 weeks, I've been working from a treadmill. It has been incredible. I got a small under-the-desk treadmill for my standing desk and I walk at about 2.5km/hour and get around 20,000 steps in per day. It has improved my mood, my clarity, and also has improved my sleep (because I'm tired of walking). I also find it easier to focus on tasks for some reason. If you can make a setup like this work for you, I…

I never tried that: is it comfortable to use mouse and keyboard while walking? To me it feels quite weird.

Like everything else, you get used to it. You can adjust your speed to lower at first of course.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#94
post #14

> but a whopping 50% still say the pain and discomfort of working from home is enough to send them back to the office. I want a breakdown of remote work preference by dollar amount spent on office chair. I think this would be revealing.

Is there a consensus best pick for home office chair at this point?

After switching to standing and seeing incredible gains in my body health, it's hard for me to consider spending on a good chair. I have a standing stool at the ready if I really need a rest, or at that point it means I need a break anyway. Oh and I started without a standing desk: just repurposed a piece of high furniture to find out if I can work this way. I was tired the first week but you quickly get to where sitting for long periods is unappealing!

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#95

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

Getting asynchronous chores done like laundry, dishwashing, and cooking/baking are the best part of working from home.

Totally agree, I cook more food, learned more recipe, wash my clothes more frequently, my house is more clean and organized.

Contrasting to a 9-5 job, I would rather just order takeaways after getting back home from the office.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#96
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lots of good options. The higher end brands include: Herman Miller Humanscale Steelcase Ergohuman Style, material preferences, and budget will guide the best pick. You can't really go wrong so long as your choice is an adjustable chair.

>The higher end brands include: Herman Miller Humanscale Steelcase Ergohuman Can I buy a comma, or buy you some? ;-)

The list formatting was not preserved...

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the issue with “hybrid” work. You either live somewhere where you can afford an office, or somewhere where the commute is bearable. Living somewhere where you have a dedicated office and the commute isn’t hell is a very expensive proposition in most American cities.

Agree. WFH a couple of days a week is largely nonsensical. Employers still need to pay for office space. Employees need dedicated work space in their homes and additional equipment while still needing to be located relatively close to the office.

That is the preferred way for me definitely. And it seems that for quite a lot of people.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#98
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly, "gaming" chairs might be the best, most cost effective option. Ars Technica[1] reviewed a couple gaming chairs from the home office viewpoint. I bought a toned-down style version of the Secretlab Titan chair pretty early in the pandemic and it is way better than my Aeron at work. And the Aeron is way better than any other normal office chair. [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/10/gaming-chair-shoo…

Wow that's a tall claim because Aeron and the Steelcase leap are the gotos. I was always skeptical of gaming chairs long duration sitting solutions but maybe i'll head to a local store and give it a try.

I was always an Aeron fan because it is a great chair but also it was also a status symbol. Back in 2011 I was working at a startup that finally started making real money and one day a semi truck showed up in the back lot and everyone rolled their motley collection of random office shit chairs out and we unloaded the Aerons off of the truck, still wrapped in plastic. I still have that same chair in the office, 10 years later, and it is basically as good as new.

But...the high back Secretlab Titan chair is so much better. The back and lumbar support is great. The armrests are ok, but for less than $20 you can buy generic memory foam covers that feel like velvet clouds and position your wrists just right to help with avoiding RSD. The neck pillow isn't used all the time, but when I need to literally lean back, it is there. The chair also lays almost flat if you need a nap.

For less than $500 it is a no-brainer. There is an active subreddit (r/secretlab) that is almost cult-like, which was kind of a red flag for me, but it actually seems to be legit superfans and not marketing. The chairs have a five year warranty - up from three but only if you post about it on social media, which is also kind of a red flag. But it is a quality chair and after almost two years of constant use, the arm rests are completely solid and it still feels brand new.

There's nothing wrong with the Aeron but on the rare occasions that I'm in the office these days, it just feels...inferior.

Edit: The arm rests are actually great - I just meant the padding. They obviously go up and down, but they also rotate in and out. So unlike most chairs, you can position them so they actually support your complete arms as you're typing - not parallel to the chair, but angled in so your elbows are at shoulder width but your forearms are supported closer to the keyboard.

I forget about a lot of these adjustments because once you dial them in, it just feels right.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that's a tall claim because Aeron and the Steelcase leap are the gotos. I was always skeptical of gaming chairs long duration sitting solutions but maybe i'll head to a local store and give it a try.

I spent over $1k on a Steelcase Leap several years ago and ironically switched to a Secretlab last year. It comes down to the fact that the Secretlab reclines a lot more and I find it far more comfortable. I've only been using it for a year and a half though, so who knows about long term.

Do you recline while you're working or do you mean in between work? I'm just curious because I've napped in it a few times but generally keep it locked at a slight incline and almost forget how adjustable it is.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#100

> but a whopping 50% still say the pain and discomfort of working from home is enough to send them back to the office. I want a breakdown of remote work preference by dollar amount spent on office chair. I think this would be revealing.

I’m probably going to be an outlier in any poll because I’ve almost always worked from home, and never bought a chair for my desk. I did however have a really painful experience with my most recent chair, as in significant pain head to heel daily for months. And it turned out it was back pain I couldn’t even feel. A friend gave me a desk chair when he replaced his and now it’s down to head and neck pain.

Yep, what you sit on makes a huge difference.

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